Semiautomatic vacuum-closing machine



Oct- 25 1927' R. E. .,J. NoRnQulsT SEMIAUTOMATICVACUUM CLOSING MACHINE Filed March, 192s e sheets-snaai l 753 i 98/629 1542 52 WAV Oct. 25, 1927.

R. E. J. NORDQUIST SEMIAUTOMATIG VCUUM CLOSING MACHINE s sheets-sheet 2 Filed March 5. 1923 14,646,704 Oct 25 1927 R. E. J. NORDQUIST SEMIAUTOMATIC VACUUM CLOSING MACHINE 164 7 4 Oct 25'1927 R. E. J. NoRDQUlsT 6 o SEMIAUTOMA'VIIC VACUUM CLOSING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet `4 @all l V if I IIIIIHIn R. E. J. NO/RDQUIST SEMIAUTOMATIC VACUUMv CLOSING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1923 As sheets-sheet 5 25 19 1646 704 Oct 27 R. E. J. NoRDQUlsT SEMIAUTOMATIC-VACUUM CLOSING MACHINE 6.7 Mfg/md 3 57:.@4 I *W RONALD E. J. NORDQUISTOF MAPL particularly to such mach closing operation is provision of means qll seaining position, the rotation of the CAN COMPANY, or

TES

NEW YORK,

PATENT OFFICE.

EWOQD,- NEW JERSEY,V AS-SIGNOR TO AMERICAN N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

l SEMIA'UTOMATIC VACUUM-CLOSING MACHINE.

Application led March 5, 1923. Serial No. 622,744.

My present invention relates to machines for uniting can ends to filled can bodies and A principal object of the pace about the can when ines in which the performed 1n a vacuum.

invention is the for effectively closing the the latter is in without interfering with turret employed for transferring the cans, or necessitating complicated mounting thereof.

whereby position tothe seaniing head easing in as to cut off communication with inatic in action an of the 'feeding turret an 4It is also an objectv to the lifting of the aid can is positione ide air.

provide means can to Seaming serves to automatically close the bottoni opening of they turret pocket in which d and to seal the turret such manner the out- Another object is the provision of 4a machine of this character which is largely autod in which the rotation d the closing operaions are so timed, with reference to the exhaust of air, that the oper place in rapid successie operation as to permit duction. i

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparen tood from the following aken in connection with hereof.

Referring to the drawin Fig. 1 is a side elevation,

ations may take n and with such coa high rate of prot as it is better underdesoription, which, the accompanying drawings, discloses al preferred embodiment partially broken away, of an apparatus in which my inven' the rigl ion is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine aken from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1, certain parts being illustrated in secion;

Fig.

hown in section',

Fig. 4.- is a top plan view,

3 is an end elevation.,

it in Fig. 1 and with certain parts looking toward partially broken away for convenience of illustration;

Fig. v5 is an enlarged through the turret and su and showing a part o with the can .seaniing head and' assoc partial section pporting frame f the seaining head, lifted to seaming position;

Fie. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the F ig. 7 is a plan view ng in section the ioating v iated parts., of the tui-ret, showalve member for sealing'the turret pocket at the closing station; j j

Fig. 8 is a detail view, partially in section, showing the vacuum control valve, being taken substantially on the line 8-8'in Fig. 60

3; and

Fig. 9 is another detail showing the lateral vpassage from the vacuum control valve to the seaming head casing and including an elevational view of the floating valve by which the turret pocket is closed. 1-

As thus illustrated, the apparatus may be described as follows.l A hollow frame part 11 is supported from the loor on al base 12 and in turn'supports a relatively large cas- 70 ing 13 for the seaming mechanism. A turret 14 is mounted on a side extension 15, having a shelf part 16 extending laterally therefrom and forming a "table-across'which the filled cans may be directed by hand to said turret 14.- Said turret is provided, in the present instance, with four pockets'17 in which the cans may be positioned and are held during rotation of the turret, suitable guides 18, 19 and 21 being provided about 80 It will be understood the latter is at rest adjacent the table exten- 0H sion 16, is moved past lan vidle station 22, (Fig. 7) thence to a seaniing station 23 and is ejected from the machine at af fourth station 24, at which there isl provided a discharge chute 25. perhaps, bestI illustrated in Fig. 7 .l

Attention is now called to the powei' mechanism by which'said turret 14 and the other operating parts of the inachine'aredriven. A power may be driven fromA any suitable source of power, said shaft being geared to a transverse shaft 28 by means of a pinion 29, a spur gear 31 and bevel gears 32 and 33 carried respectively on ashort4 shaft, not shown, beneath the shaft .26, and upon the transverse shaft 28. Said transverse shaft carries a bevel gear 3,4, meshing with a'bevel gear The turret stations are, of

shaftv26 carries a pulley 27, which 1nn said l hereinbefore stated.

shaft '36 having -a bevel gear 37 on the lower end thereof meshing with a bevel gear 38 vupon a transverse shaft 39. Said gears 34 and 35 are contained in a casing 41 on the frame and the gears 37'and 38 are contained within a lower casing 42(l Said 'casing also contains a Geneva wheel 43 keyed to a shaft 44 which shaft carries at its opposite c nd a bevel gear 45. Said gear 45 meshes with a bevel gcar 46 on the lower end of a shaft' 47 to the upper end of which the turret 14 is secured. The shaft 39 carriesa Geneva "arm 48 adapted tovengage in slots 49 in the Geneva wheel 43, and it will be understood that the continuous rotation of thefshaft-39 thus accomplishes an intermittent rotation of the shaftl44, since the arm 48 serves to rotate the wheel 43-lfmerely the distance between adjacent-slots 49 upon each revolution of said shaft 39. In this manner, the turret 14 isi'ntermittently kMeans are provided to lift the cans into seaming position when they come to rest at the turret station 23 and for applying and seaming anend to hermetically close the can. In this connection, attention is called first to Figs. 1 and 3. A lift 51 is provided on the upper en d of a rod 52 and disposed in an opening 53 in `the table 1'5so that the cans are positioned upon this lift when moved to thefturret station 23. Said rod 52 is secured within a sleeve 54 arranged within bearings 55 and 56 and is vertically 're ciprocable by means of a bifurcated arm. 57

having inward projections' 58 engaging in a groove 59 in a collar 61on the lower end of said rod 52. The arm 57 is carried o n a square shaft 62 at the lower end :of the frame, which shaft'arries also an arm 63 pivotally connected at 64 with a rod 65,

which latter carries at its upper end 'a roller 66, lriding in a groove 67 of a cam 68 carried upon the transverse shaft 28. In this manner, the lift 51 is periodically raised to lifty a can to be seamed, to a seaming head to be now described.

Said seaming head is illustrated in detail A in Fig. 6 and comprises primarily arotatable body 69, carrying rolls 71 adapted to cooperatewith a chuck 72 to imite a can end to a body by'the well-known double seaining process. The body 69 is rotated aboutthe chuck 72, by means of a sleeve 73 having screw-threaded engagement :with said body at`74 and being fbrmed with a bevel gear l75at its upper end meshing with a bevel gear 76 carried on the power shaft 26. 'Suitable bearings 77 are provided to facilitate the'rotation of the gear 75` and sleeve 73 about an inner sleeve 78 in which is mounted aknockout spindle 79. Said sleeve 78 has screw-threaded engagement at its upper end with a collar 81, which in turn is threaded to an'outer fixed sleeve 82 and an inner sleeve rotated fori the E"purpose whereby the rolls 7l may be out in proper timed relationship during the 83, a cap 84 being interposed between the upper end of the sleeve 82 ,and the inner sleeve ,83.A f f The shaft 26 carries a second bevel gear 85, whichis somewhat larger than the gear 76 and meshes with a gear 86 on the upper end of a sleeve 87 surrounding the sleeve 73. Said sleeve 87. is rotatable in bearings 88 in al bearing member 8.9 secured in the frame by means of a threaded collar 91 having a recess into which extends an inward projection92 on said frame. A set-screw 93 may be employed for the adjustment of this. bearing.

Said sleeve 87 is formed with a gear 94 at its lower end meshing with gears 95 on the upper ends of'spindles 96-upon which the rolls 71 are carried; It will be `noted that said spindles are. eccentrically mounted within the gears 95 and are thus moved in and out with respect to the chuck 72.' ItV isvalso to be observed that, since the relative ratio between` the gears and 86 `differs from the ratio between gears 76 and 75, there is a variance between the speed of rotation of the body 69 and of the gears 95 brought in and rotationof said head 69.

A knockout disk- 97 is provided on the lower end of the rod 79 and serves to remove tlie closed cans .from the chuck 72 after the seaming operation. Forthis-purpose, a collar 98 is'provided onthe upper end of said rod 79 and' is connected'by a pin 99 with an arm 101, which latter is securedto an upper arm 102 of a bell crank lever 103,

-the latter being pivoted at 104 to the framel consists 'of an outer 'fixed member 109 communicably connected with an exhaust pipe 111, and an inner movable member 112, whichI latterf is verticallyl reciprocated in' timed relationship to the feeding and seaming `ofthe cans by means of a roller 113 riding in a groove 114 in the cam member 108.

lll)

Said member 109 has an upper opening 115 |therein which communicates with'a recess 116 provided in the member 112. A second and ,relatively wide opening 117 'is providedy in the lower part of the member 109 and' this yopening is also communicably connected with the recess 116 when the member 112 is in theposition' shown in Fig. 3. In this manner, communicationv is established between l the openings 115 and 117 and i' it will be bv the cam 108 to position in Awhich a pro- -A jection 119 is in contact with the inwardly projecting part 121 on the member 109, the

sage 122 extending opening 115 will be cut off from the opening 117 and the air will enter through a pascasing. 'lh'e valve part 112 is held tightly against the member 109 by means of springs 123 housed in a bracket 124 and `bearing upon a friction plate 125.

By the foregoing valve construction, air is withdrawn from the seaming head casing 13 atl the time the can is lifted to seaming position and the lifting of the can is also accompanied by the sealing of the opening through which said can is projected, thus making it possible to create a vacuum about theseaming area for the purpose stated. -In this connection, attention is called to Figs. 1 and It will be noted that a clamping ring 126 is provided in the frame surrounding the lift or plunger 51, and a disk or diaphragm 127 is secured upon .the rod 52 just beneath and extending beyond said plunger 51 in position to engage the lower surface of said clamping ring 126 upon upward reciprocation of said plunger. Said diaphragm is preferably of spring material and, upon contacting with the ring 126, lifts the latter slightly from its seat, 'being assisted in thisaction by atmospheric pressure acting on the lower side of the diaphragm when the seaming chamber is vacuumized. This results in a slight lifting of .the turret 14, 'so that the upper part thereof bears tightly against a bottom platev 128 on the seaming. head casing 13.

vIn this manner,

the pocket 17 in the turret is sealed at the top and bottom, to prevent admission of outside air.

It is, however, necessary that means be provided to enclose a pocket 17 from the side when said pocket reaches the seamingnstation. For this purpose, I provide means, perhaps best shown in Fig. 7. A floating plate or valve129 is provided, being feathered *to the frame 11, as shown at 131, aslight sp'ace being permitted between said parts'. Upon the withdrawal of air from the interior of the pocket 17, the valve 12.9 is drawn tightly against the v,turret 14 at opposite sides thereof by ne ative pressure within th pocket, and an e ectiveseal is thus provi e r I A finger 132 is pivoted in a recess 133 in.

said valve 129 and is forced. inwardly by means of a springA 134 to center the canlfined by the guide 18.

from the exterior of thewhich latter is against inward projections 135 in the pocket 17, it being understood, that said can may ing station is reache being merely com -From the foregoing, it will' be evident thatv the turret'is free to rotate normally Without obstruction from the valve 129, since an .appreciable space is allowed between be held loosely in said (pocket until the seamthese parts, unless a vacuum be created onA the interior of the casing. Furthermore, the turret may be mounted in the usual manner upon the shaft 47. The particular p ocket in which the can to be closed is positioned is automatically sealed when it comes to rest beneath the seaming station, the `operation of the valve 129 being so.tiined that the turret is again permitted to rotate freely upon the completion of the seaming.

action. l

A clutch device is employedto control the operation ofthe machine and is best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. A hand lever 136 is -pivoted at -137 and connected by an arm 138 and a rod 139 to an upwardly extending arm4'141, which is pivoted at 143 to a'.

bracket 143 projecting from the frame.

Said arm is provided with an upper bifurcated portion 144 carrying rollers 145 disposgd on opposite sides of the shaft 26 which projects from a bearing bracket `142. Said rollers 145 are adapted to engage a plate 146a on said shaft 26, saidy plate being provided with laterally projecting pins 146b which act lupon a. sliding member 146 feathered to saidshaft 26 and forming one of the clutch membetween said member 146'and the web of the pulley 27, and it will be manifest that movement'of the. member 146 toward the right,

viewing Fig. 2, will cause the member 147 to be tightly` clamped against said pulley, with consequent rotation of tlie'member 146 and shaft 26. Said member 146 is adapted'to be with the continuously rotating pulley-,27.

When it is desired to disconnect from said pulley 27, said member 146 is moved by means of the parts heretofore described against the tension of the spring 148 to the position shown in Fig. 2.

The shaft 26 carries a gear 149 meshing with a gear 151 on a parallel shaft 152, 1provided with ahand wheel 153 for jmanua operation of the machine. Said shaft 152 is adapted to be moved longitudinally in bearings '154 upon manipulation of the lever 136, so that'the gears151 and 149 are thrown in mesh when the'machine is not operating and are disconnected durcollar '158 on the'shaft 152, are provided.

bers. A friction vmember 147 is interposed ing operation.v For this purpose, links 155 i and 156 and an arm 157, engaging against a y l.placed in line with t ful lof its attendant advantages Will be understood from the foregoing description, 'and it will be apparent that Various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the

form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

The vacuum herein referred to 1s not to be understood as a perfect vacuum but one of practicable degree to eii`ect or aid the preservation of sealed commodities; and the closing and sealing means are similarly to 'be understood 1 as being of a practicable character which may not eiiect the absolute exclusion of all air.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for vacuumizing and sealing containers, the combination of a framehaving a portion of a vacuum chamber, sealing mechanism operating in said portion of a chamber, a can carrier formed with pockets each ofwhich is adapted to be brought into position in relation with said -portion of the chamber to form a complete vacuum chamber, whereupon a can which has been conveyed byV said pocket and placed in line with the seaming `mechanism may be operated on and hermetically sealed thereby while in said vacuum chamber, anda floating element separate from said carrierand from said frame and slightly movable relative thereto, andsubject to atmospheric pressure and interposed between said carrier and said frame and acting to seal said Vacuum chamber duringthe seaming operation.

2; In an apparatus for vacuumizing and sealing containers, the combination of a frame having a portion of a vacuum chamber, sealing mechanism' operating in said portion ofa chamber, a can-carrying' turret formed with pockets each of which is ada ted to be brought into position in relation with said portion lof the chamber to form a complete-vacuum chamber, whereupon a can which has been conveyed by said pocket and e seaming mechanism may be operated on and hermetically sealed thereby while in said vacuum-chamber, and a Heating element separate from said turret and from said frame and' slightly movablerelative thereto, and subject to atmospheric pressure and interposed between said turret and said frame andl acting to seal said vacuum chamber during the seeming operation. v i

3. In an apparatus for vacuumizing and .sealing containers, the combination of a afloating element separate from said turret and from said frame and slightly movable relative thereto, and subject to atmospheric vpressure and interposed between the convex face oisaidturret and said frame and acting to seal said vacuum chamber during the seaming operation.

4. In a machine for closing cans, the combination of a casing, a can-conveying turret having pockets formed with open outer sides into which cans to be closed may be' introduced, a frame carrying said turret, a movable air-excluding plate engaging said frame and bearing on the side of the turret, and means for exhausting air from a pocket when the open side thereof is closed by said plate.

5. In a machine for uniting can ends to lled can bodies, the combination of an intermittently rotating turret provided with vertically disposed pockets for said can bodies, mechanism for seaining an end to a body at one of the stations of said turret, means movable against the side of the turret at said'station for sealing the pocket against the outside air, and means for creating a vacuum in the space about thel can during the seaming action.

6. In a machine for' uniting can ends to filled can bodies, the combination of an intermittently rotating turret provided with vertically disposed pockets for said can bodies, mechanism for seaming an end to a body at one of the stations of said turret. means movable against the side of the turret at said station for sealing the pocket against the outside air, andmeans for creatinga vacuum inthe space about the can during the seaming action, the creation of said vacuum serving to draw said movable means into sealing relationship to the turret.

7. In a machine for closing cans, the combination of a casing, a can-conveying turret having pockets formed with open outer sides into which cans to be closed may be introduced, means for exhausting air from a pocket which lis in closing position, and means against which the can is moved by the turret foi` forcing the can away from the open side 'of the turret when the air is exhausted. n

'8. In a machine for closing cans, the combination of a casing, a'can-conveying turret having pockets vformed with open outer sides into which cans to be closed may be introduced, a can-lifting plunger operating at the closing station, `and a yielding disk carried 5 with the plunger and operating under atmoslifted, and means for exhausting air from 10 such pocket.

9. In a machine for closing cans, the combination of a casing, a can-conveying turret having pockets formed with open outer'` sides into which cans to be closed'may be'introduced,l air-operatedmeans movable against the turret cooperating with the turret to exclude airl from a pocket which is "at the closing station, and means for exhausting air from such pocket.

RONALD E. J. NORDQUIST. 

